London tech start-up gets US $1.35m cash injection

Fightme, a video-based social network where members issue 30 second “challenges” to one another, has secured development funding from a number of investors to help it expand into new platforms.

In a further seed investment round, Fightme attracted $1.35 from HTG Ventures, Mercevents, David Reuben Junior, and Daniel and Raphael Khalili, amongst others. This brings its funding to date up to a total of US $1.85m, the company has announced.

Since being featured in the Apple Store’s Best New Apps section, Fightme’s iPhone app has seen a 25-fold increase in its number of users. User engagement is high – on average, members upload 10 videos per month and check the app several times a day. A Fightme-produced video calling for more urban open spaces for younger people, and which features impressive death-defying stunts by free runners and cyclists on Boris bikes, has had over 200,000 YouTube views.

Although initially targeted at the European market, over half of users join from the United States. The newly acquired funding will be used to strengthen Fightme’s physical presence in the US, as well as growing the team and developing an Android app.

The company’s founders, childhood friends Jamie Lorenz and Joelle Hadfield, are thrilled at how enthusiastically the Fightme concept has been adopted by its community. “Progress has been well beyond our expectations since we launched in to beta last year,” said Hadfield.

“We both loved the concept of turning a negative into a positive, and wanted to do the same with the word ‘fight’. There are plenty of times when ‘to fight for something’ is a positive, and it’s usually when aggression is taken out of the equation,” added Lorenz. “Inviting users to ‘Join the Fight’ is inviting them to participate in a forum where they are challenged to be better through the support, encouragement and belief of a community.”